The movie was written by Jim Kouf (author of the Richard Dreyfuss vehicle Stakeout, also 1987) under the pen name of Bob Hunt. The story concerns Los Angeles detective Thomas Beck (Michael Nouri) and FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan), who are investigating the case of Jack DeVries (Chris Mulkey), an otherwise law-abiding citizen who abruptly robs a Wells Fargo bank and kills all the security guards.
It develops that DeVries is possessed by an alien, slug-like parasite that enters its hosts through the mouth. Its victims also include a comatose hospital patient (William Boyett), a stripper named Brenda (Claudia Christian), Beck's supervisor (Clarence Felder), another detective (Ed O'Ross), a presidential candidate (John McCann) and even a dog. Meanwhile, in a stunning development, agent Gallagher is revealed to be something other than his true self. Also in the cast are Clu Gulager and Katherine Cannon.
Kouf, who would direct several feature films and episodes of the NBC-TV series Grimm, had wanted to direct The Hidden, and when the studio turned him down he lost interest in the script. Jack Sholder, assigned to the project as director, re-wrote the screenplay to give it some depth and avoid making it "a straight-on, action shoot-'em-up type." Sholder, who also has credits as writer and film editor, chose The Hidden as his favorite directorial projects, which also have included Alone in the Dark (1982) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985).
Sholder said in a 2015 interview with Fangoria.com that "I thought there was a very compelling story there. It was really about what it meant to be human... I wanted to shape it in that direction... Most of what you see is what Kouf wrote, but I sort of beefed up that end." Casting the leading roles was difficult, but good friends Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri both liked the script and agreed to play the leads after auditioning together. Sholder considered MacLachlan to be "an inspired choice," but found Nouri "very difficult" to direct.
"It was probably the toughest situation I have ever had with an actor," Sholder said of working with Nouri. "After Flashdance (1983) I believe he thought he was going to be a big star. Now here he was in this little horror film by this little company... [He] was sort of diametrically opposed to everything I asked him to do." The same year of The Hidden, Nouri had turned down the lead in Lethal Weapon, which became a hugely successful franchise for Mel Gibson.
Sholder had high praise for Claudia Christian as Brenda, the stripper, describing her as "kind of a wild and crazy girl" who was "up for anything" and "really, really went for it." He considered her "iconic in the role," while Christian found her director to be "quirky." Christian said later that the filmmakers found her breasts "inadequate," so costumes were designed to emphasize her more imposing rear end. She suffered a scratched cornea during filming when material exploded from a prop gun, leaving her shy of such "weapons."
The scene in which the alien transfers from DeVries to the hospital patient was accomplished by stop-motion photography. William Boyett, who played the patient, was so repulsed by the scene where the alien enters his body through his mouth that he refused to sit through it and left the screening room.
A certain segment of the audience found The Hidden fascinating because of the cars used in the chase sequences. MacLachlan drives a beige Porsche 928, Mulkey a black Ferrari 308 GTB, Boyett a red Ferrari Mondial convertible, and Christian a light green 1980s Cadillac Sedan Deville.
The film has a score by Michael Convertino, and features more than a dozen songs including, "Is Anybody in There?" and "Say Goodbye" by Hunters and Collectors; and "Still in Hollywood," "Your Haunted Head" and "Over Your Shoulder" by Concrete Blonde. The soundtrack was released on the Varese Sarabande label.
The Hidden won several prizes and nominations in the 1988 awards season including: the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival; a Best Director award to Sholder and a nomination as Best Film at Fantasporto; a Best Actor Award to Nouri; the Prize of the International Critics' Jury to Sholder at the Catalonian International Film Festival; and nominations for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actor (Nouri), Director (Sholder) and Writing (Kouf) at the Saturn Awards.
The movie was only a modest commercial success, grossing $9.7 million at the box office. But it since has come into its own in television showings and a DVD that is available through New Line Video. A sequel, The Hidden II, was directed by Seth Pinsker and released in 1993.
By Roger Fristoe
